Getting a CC overseas
 

Moved to Hong Kong earlier this year and there are some credit cards which offer bonuses which I am tempted to apply for. On the other hand I am worried this might mess up my US based credit report and especially my US based credit card company relationships. Since moving here I have been using my CSP and so far nobody asked me why I am racking up charges exclusively outside the US, thought by now they would have asked at least. I understand that transunion is here and is used for credit checks. While I do not have a long cedit history here I do have a long standing one from the US and am reluctant to jeopardize that.

Does anyone know the implications of getting a credit card here in HK and if it may compromise my us credit cards?

Your US based issuers won't even know about you getting a cc in HK. Credit reports do not cross international borders.

So you will be starting on a clean slate when applying for credit cards in HK. However, some issuers such as HSBC make it easier for you to get approved for a HSBC premier of your target country if you have a HSBC premier from another country.

Foreign credit cards will not affect your US credit history what so ever, they are solely based on your SSN and foreign banks cannot use that, nor would they report to the same credit bureaus.

On a similar note, it may be difficult for you to get credit cards as a new resident because you lack a credit history. If you currently have a US Amex give them a call as many times they can transfer your account or modify it to a foreign one as soon as you have your residency papers.

Very interesting. I figured Transunion would immediately link up the names etc and perhaps alert the US cc issuers that this client of yours is no longer stateside. There are a few good bonuses to churn here so will give it a shot. Thanks

I wouldn't be so quick to say that- when I opened a checking account at a credit union in Canada, they requested my SSN and pulled up Equifax reports from both the US and Canada. Hong Kong is probably less of an issue.

Also, to the OP, try giving Aeon Credit a shot. From what I've read online, it seems like they'll extend credit to just about anybody but their cards don't entirely suck.

Sorry my bad, Canada and the US have a credit exchange banking agreement based on some old norms about trans border check cashing but what I said will apply in most other cases.